Not So New
by sunflower13
Summary: Kate and Tori have grown up, but that doesn't mean they're leaving the team. How will they handle the twists and turns of 2016? And who do they drag into the hero business with them? Sequel to The Two Newbies.
1. Chapter 1

**And we're back! Shadow's last day was earlier, but Friday is a nice regular updating time, so we're sticking with it. Lots of new characters folks, so sit back and enjoy the ride!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or any of the characters except Kate, Tori, and the ones you'll meet in this chapter.**

_**Charles POV**_

_**March 10, 2016**_

_Intruder alert! Intruder alert!_

I drop my pencil on my math textbook, grateful for the excuse to quit. I jump off the counter and race to the briefing room. It's late at night and some of the team is on a mission, so I'm not expecting many of the others. Once I make it to the briefing room I see that I'm in fact right. Only Nightwing, Impulse, Robin, and I are still in the cave. Nightwing is furiously typing coded commands into the supercomputer.

"Computer," he commands, "lock down cave."

"What? Why is this happening again?" I ask, knowing that this had happened once before with Impulse.

"I don't know," Nightwing responds, pulling up some footage caught by inside security cameras and what I suspect is a satellite feed.

"The computer picked up a large black object shooting down towards us from space," Nightwing continues. His eyes narrow as the video shows that a part of the mysterious object had broken off and landed in some random town. The larger portion of the object continues for the cave and instead of colliding into it phases through. Nightwing then switches to the camera footage. The object has stopped outside the cave, in front of the zeta tube and starts to fizzle out like fog dispersing. Out of the fog comes two figures. As the fog disperses around them, it rises up and disturbs the camera feed. When it clears both figures are gone.

"We need to split up and find those two. Impulse and Metallum you check upstairs. Robin and I will look downstairs. If you catch one bring it back here for questioning. Any questions?" Impulse raises his hand.

"Uh, Nightwing..." He points to a dark corner. A soft 'takking' catches my attention. We all step forward to see a girl, who looks about my age, sitting in the corner typing on a briefly laptop. She had brown and blonde hair that's in a high ponytail. She's in a dull green jacket over her shoulders and a sleeveless black shirt with a yellow emblem of a bird over her heart. She's also wearing jeans with patches at the knees that are peeling off slightly around the edges. She has a black necklace with bright green veins running down the sides. All up and down her arms are gray and black tattoos. There's a weird symbol on her neck. It's a ring with three 'X's' around the edges. She glances up at us briefly before turning back to her screen. Impulse dashes to her and grabs ahold of her shoulder.

"Gotcha'," he smirks.

"I guess you have," the girl replies with a smile. Nightwing approaches her cautiously. The girl carefully closes her laptop and puts it down on the ground.

"Why aren't you running?" our leader asks.

"Should I be?" the girl asks back.

"Well, duh, if you're the villain you run from us. The good guys," Impulse explains.

"But I-"

"Oh my gosh you all are so freaking lame!" A voice followed by laughter cuts off the girl. We all spin around to see a girl wearing a blue t-shirt with a long-sleeved black undershirt, plain blue jeans, and tennis shoes. She waves before teleporting away.

"Catch her," Nightwing orders. Nightwing handcuffs the first girl on the floor to a pipe that runs along the wall. Impulse and I run upstairs and catch the girl in the hallway. Impulse dashes forward and tries to hit her only to be blocked. He tries again and again but the girl seems to be able to match his every move. Suddenly, an idea pops into my head. While Impulse is distracting the girl, I hold out my hand and flex my fingers. I feel the pressure of my entire arm flow down to my fingertips. I slowly ball my hand into a fist. There's a small creak from the metal floor. I jerk back my entire arm and the first layer of metal flies at the girl.

She must have heard the creak because right as the metal sheet rushes at her she teleports away, back onto the railing as the sheet hits Impulse and pins him to the wall.

"Sorry!" I shout, trying to pull the sheet off him.

"Don't worry about me. Get her!" I turn back to the girl who smirks before back flipping twice off the railing. As she falls down she teleports away, farther across the room. I use my power to make a makeshift ramp down to the ground. I slide down and run in the direction I see her run away. She's in the living room, facing Nightwing. Nightwing throws punches, but once again the girl either blocks it or dodges it. This seems to boost the girl's confidence, which makes her a little careless. Nightwing lands a punch in her stomach. She doubles over, but before he can capture her she teleports away. There's a loud yelp which signals that she's now facing Robin. Nightwing and I rush into the shower room where the girl is teleporting around Robin while he tries to strike her. Robin turns to us and the girl lands in a crouch on the end of his staff.

_"Wrong move,"_ I think to myself. Robin touches a button that triggers a volt of electricity to flow to the end of the staff. The girl's eyes widen and she shudders with a shout before falling to the floor. Nightwing hurries over and handcuffs her legs and feet. He then picks her up and we all walk back to the briefing room where the other girl is once again typing on her laptop. She looks up and groans. Shutting her laptop she pats the ground next to her.

"I'm sorry if she caused you any trouble. She likes testing people which is cool at times, but..." She rubs the bridge of her nose. Nightwing sets down the other girl.

"We want answers. Now."

"Sure, what do you want to know?" It's strange that this girl is far more cooperative than the other. Speaking of which. The girl in blue starts to open her eyes and tiredly looks around.

"Tsk, you know we can get out of these thing easily right?" she smirks.

"Oh really?" Robin retorts. Impulse looks like he's thinking of something. The girl in blue pinches the ends of her handcuffs and teleports them off of her and onto the floor in front of her. The girl in black closes her eyes. The tattoos on her arm creep onto the handcuffs, covering them with words and numbers. She opens her eyes and the handcuffs shatter and fall to the ground with a soft tinkling sound. We all stand there with our mouths gaping.

Suddenly, the blue girl's eyes widen and she stares off into the distance.

"Oh snap, she's coming."

"Who's coming?" Robin asks. I turn to the area where the girl is looking at. In black letters on the wall is ' You guys are so busted.'

"Looks like mama bear is coming for her babies," Impulse mutters, taking a step back. The lights flicker a bit.

_"System override. Authorization-" _The automated voice of the computer stops and whirs.

_"Error. Invalid identification. Input correct command code." _There's a long pause before the voice whirs again, _"Command code override. Replacing B09 Rocket to B09-2 Rocket. Authorization B09 Sparrow." _Sparrow, Sparrow…where have I heard that name before?

The zeta tube goes off and in walks a woman who's drenched from head to toe. She coughs a little and water pours out of her mouth. She looks a few years older than the girl in green. She drops four large bags on the floor. The figure has long brown hair that fell to the floor. She wears what looked like a fur pelt of a huge dark orange dog. She also has a domino mask like Nightwing's on. Two bonelike wings with dark gray and black glass-like feathers retract into her back. There's a small scar on her neck and below her right eye. She glares down at the two girls, her large fangs visible. In a flash her expression changes.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she mutters, holding her stomach.

"That's what happens when you teleport long distances too many times in one day," the girl in black says with a bored tone.

"Shut up!" The oldest figure teleports away to the nearest bathroom.

_"B04. Superboy."_

_"B05. Miss Martian."_

_"B10. Silver."_

"What happened? We saw something head for the cave?" Miss Martian asks. She scans the room, her eyes falling on the two girls who are sitting on the floor. Kate walks over to me. She's in pajamas, meaning she was probably getting ready to go to bed when she saw the strange object. We live in an apartment in Happy Harbor. I have monitor duty tonight, which is why I'm here.

"Are you okay? What's going on?" she asks worriedly, looking me up and down. I shrug.

"_I don't know. Some strange girls came,_" I reply in my native tongue.

"But how did they get past the systems?" Kate whispers to herself. There's a flush of a toilet and the sound of the sink being turned on and off that catches everyone's attention. When the lady, Sparrow, comes back she doesn't even look at anyone except the two girls who'd broken in. She's still wet, and leaves small puddles on the ground as she walks.

"You guys are in so much trouble. You dropped me in a freaking LAKE! A LAKE! And then you come over here and harass..." she continues to lecture the two until Miss Martian cuts her off.

"Sparrow?" she questions. The girl smiles and brushes her soaking wet hair out of her face.

"The one and only." She turns and actually takes a good long look at all of us. There's a look of confusion on her face.

"Man, I've been gone for a long time," she mutters. She then looks at the adults, her eyes widening. A large grin spreads across her face.

"Guys!" she yelled excitedly, teleporting in front of them. She high-fives Superboy, and hugs Kate and Miss Martian.

"Conner, those are some pretty sweet gloves, dude. Megan, you cut your hair. It looks nice. Kate, ohmygosh you look so old." Sparrow pulls down her eyelid and sticks out her tongue. Now I know who she is! An old team member that had left. And Kate's best friend.

"Hey!" Kate punches her in the arm. Sparrow turns on her heel to Nightwing and tilts her head slightly.

"Hmmm. Say something?" she asks.

"Something," Nightwing replies with a smirk. Sparrow's eyes widen.

"Ohmygosh!" She teleports in front of him and hugs him tightly. "Dude, look how tall you are!"

"I know, right," Nightwing says, "Way taller than you, huh?"

"Oh, shut up! I see you grew out of your Robin costume," she comments, nodding at Robin.

"I go by Nightwing now." Sparrow nods before pursing her lips and rubbing her cheeks.

"My face hurts from smiling so much. I'm just so happy to see you guys. IfeellikeImightstartcrying." There's a flash that goes off. We turn to see the girl in black holding a camera and the second girl munching on what looks like a crystal. The girl in black takes another picture. Sparrow walks over to the two of them.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay I guess I should introduce these two troublemakers. Both of these ladies are my nieces. I took care of them a lot back on our home planet. When I told them about how amazing Earth was they practically begged me to bring them one day. And it seems like today's the day. And by the way I did not give them these names. And I assure you that if I did they would have been far more awesome. This," she says, gesturing to the one in blue, "Is Gray Moth or Gray for short. She can teleport at extreme speeds but mostly at short distances. She can be very hyper due to the fact that she's A SUGAR ADDICT!" Sparrow yells this last part and Gray jumps up.

"Am not!" Grey protests, "I can quit at any time."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the same line that crack addicts use, but look at them, still on the corner buying drugs from their closest dealer."

"Shut up."

"And this," Sparrow gestures to the other girl who's back on her computer, "Is Gosling. I have no clue why she chose that name. She said it's because baby geese are cute or something. She has a tendency to break things and remake them into something else. So unless you like your things missing parts and not working correctly I suggest you don't let her borrow any. So who are these guys?" Nightwing steps forward.

"This is Robin, Impulse, Metallum, and," he pointed to the adults. "Miss Martian, Superboy, Silver, and as you know I am Nightwing. The rest of the team is on a mission now, so you may have to meet them later."

"Hey where's Artie?"

"She and Wally left the hero business because of college," Kate smiles. "They still visit a lot though."

"Where's Kaldur?" Sparrow winks and nudges Kate. Her smile fades when Kate turns away and wraps her arms around her stomach.

"He joined his father's forces nine months ago," Nightwing finally answers. Kate flinches. I walk over to her and give her a hug. She pats my back. Sparrow brushes her bangs back and grips her hair. Gos and Gray look at their Aunt with a worried and cautious expression on their faces.

"No," Sparrow whispers, "Did we capture him?" she asks, her eyebrows knit together.

"No," Nightwing replies, seeing that no one else wants to talk about it.

"Well, we will and when we do we'll have to beat some sense into him. Okay, and Katie here gets first punch." Sparrow smiles again. Kate looks at her irritated. She grabs a hold of Sparrow and gives her a noogie.

"I told you to stop calling me Katie." Sparrow just laughs. Suddenly her face scrunches up and she gives a loud sneeze.

"We should probably get you a spare change of clothes," Kate says, taking Sparrow by the hand and leading her upstairs. She stops at the stairs and turns to me.

"Charles," she says warningly. I blush. I had forgotten to put the railing and floor layer back.

"Sorry."

"Just clean this up please."

"Yes, ma'am." I walk over to the rail and will it to go back to the way it was. As I walk up the stairs to the sheet of metal that are still crumpled to the wall I hear Miss M ask, "So how'd you get those clothes? Sparrow wasn't wearing any human clothes."

"Well, when she came back to Shadowland she brought back some clothes for us to try, but they didn't exactly fit right. They do now that we're older, though. She grew out of her Earth clothes and just decided to wear her Shadowland clothes," Gray answers.

"Where'd Gosling go?" Superboy asks. I stop straightening off the dents in the metal and looked off the side to the floor to see that Gos is in fact gone. A minor amount of movement and a dim glow attracts my attention to a beam on the ceiling. Gos is sitting there typing on her laptop again. I go back to the sheet of metal and will it back to its place on the floor. I walk back down to the team who are asking Gray questions. She stops, licking her fingers for whatever is left of her sugar crystal.

"Do you guys have anything sweet to eat?" she asks. The teammates look from her to each other and back to her.

"Look I don't care what Auntie says, I'm not an addict. I just need the calories to keep from pass out from burning through all of them."

"Hold on," Impulse says before running off. When he comes back he tosses Gray a bag of Lifesaver assorted hard candies and gummies.

"These are Jaime's, so you'll probably have to pay him back."

"Sure," Gray replies, popping a few into her mouth. Sparrow walks back downstairs with Kate. She changed grey shirt with a purple symbol, a black jacket, and black cargo shorts. It seems like Kate went and cut Sparrow's hair while she was at it. Sparrow has her hair in a low ponytail that reaches to the center of her back.

"Hey, could we crash here for a while? It'll only be for a few days so we can get our feet on the ground."

"Sure, stay as long as you'd like," Megan says cheerily. Sparrow and Gray smile.

"Cool beans."

"You have about six seconds," Gosling calls down. We all look up.

"Six seconds until what?" I ask. Sparrow's eyes roll back and she rocks on the balls of her feet before she begins to fall forward. Gray teleports in front of her and catches her right before she hits the ground.

"She's never been able to last longer than this after teleporting long distances. Where should I dump her?" She tosses the bag of snacks up and catches them in her mouth. She pulls Sparrow up a little and does her best to hold up the upper half of her body. Finally, getting frustrated she calls Gosling down.

"Gos, get you're lazy butt down here and help me." Gosling shrugs. She crawls over to the closest wall and one of her tattoos start to glow. The images swirl around her until they form a reptile-like tail and arms on her. Her eyes glow a bright green. She then latches onto the wall and climbs down like a lizard and lands on the floor. The tattoos then swirl back around her and land back into their original position. She walks over and picks up Sparrow's legs.

"I'll show you some empty rooms you guys can have." Kate then leads them back to the bedrooms.

"So what do you think of them?" Robin asks.

"They're cool," I say. Impulse shrugs.

"I think they'd make _interesting_ additions."

"Agreed," Robin replies.

Nightwing nods. "Okay, if their aunt agrees then they, Sparrow, Silver and Metallum will all form Epsilon squad."

"That sounds lame," I whine. Nightwing gives me a look that says that his decision is final. Kate walks back into the room.

"Sparrow looks so cute when she's asleep," she smiles. Suddenly Gray runs in.

"HEY WHY'D YOU GIVE ME A ROOM SOMEONE ELSE IS STAYING IN!"

"But no one should be in that room," Kate says, puzzled. Gray's face turns white and her entire attitude changes. She starts laughing nervously.

"Uh, never mind. It was probably just my... imagination. Yeah, imagination." She turns around and runs back to her room.

"Odd," I remark. Everyone else nods in agreement.

**Gah, I'm so excited! We have a lot planned for this story, so be prepared. And like always, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry about not updating yesterday, you know how summer gets. I just completely lost track of the days!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or any of its characters.**

_**Allie**_

I walk into the room again to see that the boy is still there. He's a pale white, darkening towards the edges of his form, with grayish eyes and black hair. He's wearing a dark blue button down shirt. I peer closer to see his legs and notice that they're faded and transparent.

"Ghost!" I gasp. He looks up at me, surprised.

"You can see me?" he asks. His voice is soft and holds some sort of echo. I facepalm and nod slowly.

"_Not again,"_ I think to myself. The boy smiles shyly.

"Look I need you to leave. This is my room." He stands and nods, moving to the door but phasing through the wall instead.

"_Definitely a ghost."_ I sigh and look around the room before sitting on the bed and eating a pixy stick I found in my pocket. I lean back close my eyes to rest. I wake up to four pairs of eyes. I scream and jolt forward, managing to collide with a green boy's head. We both rub our foreheads.

"Why are you all in my room?" I shout. Impulse stands back and waves his hands dramatically.

"Breakfast time!" I sigh before shifting off the bed and standing. I look around to see Peter floating in the corner. "I thought I told him to leave," I mutter under my breath. My door slides open and the boys and I leave. Salem is propped coolly (more or less) against the wall. She brushes her blonde and brown hair out of her face.

"Oh Gray so many fine young men exiting your living quarters. How scandalous!" She leans forward with a smile. I push her away.

"Shut up!" I stick my tongue out at her. The green boy leaned towards her and elbows her in the side.

"Fine young men, huh?" he grins cockily. Salem laughs. "I'm Beast Boy by the way, but everyone calls me Garfield."

"Gray Moth," I smile. We walk into the kitchen. I sit down at the table and prop my head up on my arm. A bowl casually slides in front of me.

"Hi Gray!" A blonde woman appears in front of me.

"Uh, Kate, good morning!" I reply, trying to add a bit of cheer into my voice even though I am NOT a morning person. Everything is too bright and loud.

"What type of cereal would you like?" she asks sweetly, seeming to notice my mood. But then again Auntie did say she could read moods or something. Just then Auntie walks up behind her and pats her shoulder.

"Don't pamper her," she says, looking at me mischievously. I sigh.

"This is about the lake thing isn't it?"

"Heck yeah it's about the lake thing. Let's go breakfast is this way." She beckons to me with her finger and I follow her to the pantry. I notice that Salem, Impulse, and Garfield are all standing in front of the microwave, which is slowly counting down from 28.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Bacon," is the only response I get. I roll my eyes. Judging by the look on their faces I shouldn't ask if they want to share. I turn back to see that Auntie has disappeared. I walk out of the kitchen and find Kate again sitting with Metallum.

"Have you seen Auntie?"

"She went to watch Nightwing and La'gann spar with Megan . She also said something about telling you she has your cereal." I groan, feeling lazy. I grab my bowl and the milk from the fridge and walk to the room where Salem and I had first teleported. Just as I thought, the two are casually standing next to the wall watching the boys and talking. Dangling from Auntie's hand are the cinnamon toasties I'm looking for. I teleport in front of them, grab the box, and sit down, pouring my cereal and milk. There's a crunch.

"I think Nightwing will win." I nearly choke on my milk as I see Salem sitting next me munching on bacon. She swallows.

"How'd you get here so fast?"

"Teleported." I glare at her.

"You stole one of our powers again?"

"Yup." She takes another bite of bacon. A piece suddenly disappears off the plate. I turn to see it materialize in Auntie's hand. She had turned her attention back to the sparring, more specifically to Nightwing. From her old stories they were dating back before she had to come back to Shadowland. I guess that they technically broke up since they haven't actually contacted each other in years. Megan waves her hand in Auntie's face.

"Hello, Earth to Sparrow." She snaps out of it and turns to the Martian.

"Huh?"

"Huh, nothing. I was asking why you haven't written to us in like TWO YEARS!" Auntie rubs the back of her neck.

"Well there were a lot a factors tied into it but the main was probably the fact that a war broke out."

"WAR!" Megan yells. There's a grunt and a thud. We all turn and spot the fish boy on the ground with Nightwing standing over him. He holds a hand out.

"One day...," the fish man, La'gann I think Kate said, mutters as he's pulled up.

"Are you okay?" Megan frowns.

"Am now that I've seen you, angelfish." He wraps his arms around the woman. I look back to see Salem hyperventilating.

"You three must be the ones I've heard so much about. I'm Lagoon Boy." He sticks his hand out to Salem who backs up into a portal and disappears. "Okay, that was...strange," La'gann says to no one in particular. A moment later a cry fills the cave.

"THEY BROKE MY SHIP!" Auntie purses her lips.

"Uh, she's very...unique."

"Yeah that's one way of saying it," I laugh. "The name's Gray Moth."

"That's a cool name." I glance around, but no one's lips have moved.

"Sparrow," Auntie introduces herself. "And the one who ran away is Gosling." I tilt my head and look behind everyone. Peter is floating around looking straight at me.

"Y-you heard me again?"

"Of course I heard you," I hiss. Now everyone is looking at me.

"Uh, excuse me." I stomp over to a corner and Peter follows.

"What are you doing here?"

"I..." He looks down his words fading.

"What?"

"I can't pass," he murmurs.

"Why not, you don't see any other ghosts flying around here. Plus if you stick around then everyone will start thinking I'm crazy for whispering to the air. So why can't you pass, Peter?" He starts mumbling again, looking at the floor. He purses his lips together and furrows his eyebrows. "Speak up." He mutters something again fiddling with the edge of his shirt as if it's very interesting. "PETER SPEAK UP!" As soon as the words leave my mouth I know I had been too loud. I bury my face in my hands in embarrassment knowing that everyone and their brother probably heard that.

"I-I love you." I stiffen and slowly lift my head from my palms. The ghost's striking blue eyes watched me intensely for a reaction. The corner of my mouth twitches and I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"Peter, what the heck!" I whisper shout. "You just met me!"

"I know. But you can see me. No one's ever been able to see me before." He smiles adoringly.

"I need you to leave. Now!" I make shooing motions with my hands.

"Okay," he frowns before disappearing. I turn back to everyone else just in time to see Salem run in holding a large pile of cloth. She unfurls it to reveal that it's some sort of dress.

"Guys! Guys! There's this room with a closet that produces any type of clothing? And I mean any type, look." She holds it higher. The dress a shade of purple with crazy dots and stripes all over…and is that an animal head? "Aren't you happy?" she asks turning to me. "Now I can make our costumes and I don't have to go out and buy the material!" Auntie and I give her uneasy looks.

"After seeing this...piece you've created I'm not sure if we'd want to have our clothes made by you." Auntie says nicely.

"Well this was just a test run, but I'll make the costumes anyways and you can tell me whether you like it or not." With that Salem leaves. I walk back towards the rest of the group.

"Does anyone else wanna spar before I hit the showers?" La'gann asks.

"I will," Auntie volunteers. They step into the ring. Panels appear and the countdown starts. When the machine hits "zero" Auntie is the first to make a move. She lunges forward as if she's going to attack him head-on but at the last moment swivels around him. She kicks his legs out from under him and as he falls she elbows him in the back of his head. La'gann lands on his knees. Auntie grabs his arm and the back of his head pulling his arm back and forcing his head down on the floor. Nightwing and Megan stand there mouths agape at what they just saw.

"Loser. Lagoon Boy," the machine announces. Sparrow helps the young man to his feet.

"How did you-?" La'gann asks.

"So quickly-?" Megan continues.

"What?" Nightwing finishes.

"Military training," Auntie replies calmly.

"Hello, Megan," Miss Martian states, thumping her head. "Of course you'd be great at combat training. Speaking of which what were you saying about the war?" Auntie shifts a bit.

"Well-"

"I made the costumes!" Salem runs in her arms full with cloth. "Okay try these on and tell me what you think." She hands us both our clothes and shoves us in the direction of our rooms eagerly. Once I lock my doors I look around to make sure the ghost boy isn't in here. It doesn't look like it so I quickly change out of my clothes. I slip on the outfit and clip the cape in the front. I look in the mirror and smile, brushing my black hair out of my face. The bangs flop back into place and I blow at them irritably. Oh well. At least the rest of my hair is nice and short. Adjusting the buckle of the cape, my fingers bump the black collar around my neck. I run my fingers over the Shadowlander words written on it. Unlike most Shadowlander necklaces I can't remove mine. Ever.

I look at my costume. Salem actually did a pretty good job this time. It's mainly dark gray with light gray triangles that formed moth wings. The uniform continues on, forming a bodysuit, and ending in a pair of dark blue boots. The cape is a grayish blue, held together at my throat by a clip that's the same shape as the moth pattern on my suit. I turn to the side to admire myself from a different angle and notice a sticky note stuck to my shoe. I pull it off.

"Click the toe of your show on the ground," I read to myself. "Okay." I tap my foot against the ground. With a slight click, wheels shoot out of the bottom of both. Caught off guard, I grab the mirror to steady myself. I click my toe against the ground again and the wheels retract. I sigh in relief and let go of the mirror. I notice another sticky note attached to the belt that hangs around my waist.

"For your weapon of choice. P.S. By that I mean your sickles," I mutter. I smile a bit at Salem's wording before finding my bag and scrounge through it to find my pair of sickles, careful not to slice my finger off. I fiddle with the loops on the belt until I figure out how a way to secure my weapons without stabbing myself in the thigh. Finally I put on a pair of goggles. They looked kind of "steampunk" as Auntie had described the fashion.

"This is so cool!" I exclaim as I twirled in front of the mirror. I turn back to the door and open it only to see Peter standing there. I jump back, startled. "Geez, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I grumble as I walk past him, back into the briefing room. Salem starts clapping.

"Ooh. That costume looks good on you," Megan smiles.

"Thanks," I reply, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly. Salem is wearing a brown sleeveless fleece zip-up with a cream-colored undershirt, her tattoos clearly visible. She also has on black jeans and gray running shoes.

"Exactly how long have you been working on these costumes?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"A very long time." She looks proud of her work.

"If you've been working on these for so long can you please explain to me why I don't have any pants?" We look up at Auntie. Her hair is down, emphasizing the fact that the gray leotard she's wearing ends at the thighs. It has a black bird design on it and three random purple straps in the front. She has the same type of purple cape as on her original costume, just a little longer. Her sleeves are also longer, reaching into her almost elbow length gloves. To top it all off, there's a matching pair of black boots and a domino mask. Salem looks a bit upset.

"Aww you don't like it?" Auntie looks at her flatly.

"It's not that I don't like it it's just... I don't like all this," she gestures to her legs, "exposed." Salem groans in frustration and teleports away. When she returns a few minutes later a tattoo on her arm of a pair of wings disappears. She hands her some black shorts. Auntie takes them but not before Salem touches her neck.

"I lost teleportation I'll have to borrow yours." Auntie winces and the tattoo returns. She slips on the shorts.

"Much better," she remarks, walking around.

"I feel like we should celebrate our new teammates," Megan comments, concentrating hard. She snaps her fingers. "What if I made some cookies?"

"We've got something different planned," Robin smiles as he, Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, and Impulse come in. "Initiation mission."


	3. Chapter 3

**Heeeeeeeeey! Sorry about posting two days late, but I had a leadership conference all week, so I was absolutely brain dead Friday, and I didn't remember until today. But, um, here we are!**

_**Salem**_

_**March 11, 2016**_

My eyes widen as I gaze upon the motorcycle.

"Wow I can't believe you guys kept it!" Sparrow says as she walked up to it. It's a purple and silver motorcycle that looks like most of the others in the garage. There's a few dents and scratches, even a bullet hole on one part, but overall it looks like it'll run just fine. I jump on, giggling a bit in excitement. Allison changes her boots to skate mode and rolls around for practice. Sparrow pats me on the back before gently pulling a helmet over my head.

"Since I don't exactly trust you to operate a vehicle I'm putting this on auto pilot." I pout as she hits a few buttons and backs away. The engine roars to life as the garage door opens. I quickly hunch over as the cycle speeds forward.

"Ah, wait for me!" Allie calls after me.

"It's on auto pilot!" I yell back, barely missing a bug to the mouth. She creates portals and skates through them. Every time she emerges she gets faster and faster. The distance between the portals grows smaller until she catches up to me.

"Wh-ere a-re we g-oin-g?" Her voice is choppy as she asks the question. I pull up the map on the screen, purple lines highlighted our path.

"The city of Druley. This should be fun." I grin through my helmet. "Jump on the motorcycle I'm going to use Sparrow's teleportation to get us there faster." She turns away from me and mutters something but I couldn't hear it. She teleports on behind me and holds tight as I tap into our aunt's power. I keep thinking about being there. My vision blurs and the surroundings fade into lines before disappearing completely. When my vision clears everything is different. I hit the brakes and look around.

"So this is Druley," Allie comments, glancing around. The buildings' paint and plaster is chipped or peeling. Rails are bent. The colors in the walls are all bland and faded except for the graffiti that's on practically every building. The alleys have garbage everywhere. Dogs can be heard barking loudly, and judging by the sound they aren't very small, too. I start up the cycle again as I catch a glimpse of a car who's wheels had been stolen and is now sitting on cinder blocks.

"I know Jaime said that there was a robbery at a store, but sheesh. This town looks like a robbery would be the very least of their worries." Allie's eyes look a bit sad. A loud ringing sound snaps our heads to the east.

"Let's go," I say as she hops down and adjusts her goggles. We race towards the crime scene and just as our friend had said, the grocery store is being robbed. Two men stand with their backs to us pointing guns at people lying on the floor. I gun the throttle of the motorcycle before jumping off and letting it sail through the air and crash through the window into the first man. I take off my helmet and throw it after the bike. It hits the man in the face right as shakily stands up. People scream as glass rains down on them and the man falls back into the wall. The second guy raises his gun to me but is stopped when a sickle swings through the air and cuts the back of his hand. The man yelps and drops the gun. Allie swings again, cutting at the man's chest and again at his arm. She rushes forward and jumps up, kicking off his chest and launching him backwards into a shelf. The metal creaks as it begins to fall, some people who are still on the floor scream.

I squeak and quickly teleport in front of the shelf, the tattoo disappearing. I switch to Superboy's strength and push the shelf back in place. The people's screaming turn into sighs of relief.

"Try not to make collateral damage, Gray!" I hear a shot and feel something zip past my ear. The man who I had hit with my bike is leaning over a table. His leg is bleeding and bent in a nasty way, my guess was it was broken. His face doesn't look much better either. He's shakily pointing his gun at me.

"You costumed freaks think you can stop us?" The man has short blond hair poking out from the knitted cap over his head. He has a beard that makes me think of lumberjacks…and pancakes. Gray stops punching the second man, who's bald with a tattoo on his neck. His looks constantly surprised, because he has no eyebrows. She drops him on the floor.

"Who do you think you are? Superman?" I look down at my clothes.

"Hmmm. No 's' shield here, so I guess not. Why? Do you think we're Superman?" I ask sarcastically.

"Because if you do, we'll have to get you to an eye doctor." Gray smirks. The lumberjack guy's nostrils flare. I switch to Impulse's speed and dash forward, grabbing his gun and then the second guy's gun, which is still on the ground, careful to avoid tripping on people.

"Yoohoo," I taunt, waving the guns. I disarm them, like I had seen in videos and read in books. This makes the man even more frustrated, his face reddening.

"That's it! I didn't think I'd have to use this. Thermos, get your sorry butt off the floor." Slowly, No Eyebrows stumbles off the floor. Half of his face is swollen and bruised. Gray takes a step towards him, making him flinch.

"Over here, wuss." Thermos slinks over to Lumberjack.

"Now, behold our power! Thermos!" The beaten man lifts his arms, straining a bit with his left. Grey stands at alert with her sickles out. I extend my fingers, my tattoos swirling around. He slowly brings his hands down, swaying them from left to right. The air gets a little colder. I blink.

"Are these guys serious?" Gray whispers. I shrug.

"Um, aren't thermoses supposed to keep things warm, not make things cold?" I ask, tilting my head slightly for emphasis.

"I told you that name was stupid," Thermos mutters.

"Shut up!" Lumberjack snaps. "Fine then, since you two still seem so unfazed, we'll see how you deal with Smudge's sludge." He flicks his wrist at me and a stream of brown stuff that I'm not sure is a solid or a liquid flies at me. I easily sidestep it. Unfortunately, thee man directly behind me isn't so lucky. The sludge lands right next to him, a little splashing on his face. The smell is terrible, I can only hope that it's mud and not... a different substance. The vomit the man coughs up doesn't help either. I step out of the aisle, feeling a bit sick. Smudge continues to shoot his sludge out at us.

Gray teleports in front of Thermos, who screams before she punches him. I use Miss M's flight to zip up to Smudge. I flip and nail him in the face with my boot. He falls back, and screams in pain as he lands on his bad leg.

"I'm not sure if anyone has ever told you this, but your powers are pretty lame." I give him a pitying look. "This is real power. Naga!" I call. A giant black snake shoots out of the shadows. It hisses at Smudge, who's screaming in both fear and pain as he tries to scoot away. Naga's head sways. I make a shooing gesture and the snake disappears. I extend my hands to the trembling man and my tattoos flutter off my arms and around his wrists. The binds tighten and pull him forward. I take out handcuffs from a clip on my belt and snap them around his wrists.

"But, even though you're power is practically useless, it may come in handy later." I place a hand against his neck. I think of vampires, mosquitoes and ticks. How they suck what they want out of people's necks. A warm sensation flows up my arm and Smudge yells in protest. A new tattoo that's smaller compared to most of my others appears on my arm. It looks like someone tried to make a flower with ink, but messed up and tried to rub it out, only to create a smudge.

"I got mine," I call to Allie, dragging Smudge from out behind the counter.

"Me too," Allie replies. Her guy is unconscious. I give her a look, but she rolls her eyes. She turns to the woman who is the first to get off the floor.

"I need you to call the police. And an ambulance. That man has a broken leg so he won't be able to run, and this one is unconscious. If anything goes wrong, remember they are both tied up, and a good solid kick to the gut should settle them down." The woman nods, eyes wide. A man helps me pick up my motorcycle.

"Thank you," he whispers. I smile.

"No prob." Gray taps her feet on the ground before teleporting outside. I follow with the motorcycle, which isn't really in any different condition than before. As we leave I hear people cheer for us and laugh.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I used up long distance teleportation, so you'll have to get back on foot." Gray looks at me, irritated. She grumbles something before teleporting ahead of me.

"Hey! Wait up!" I call before speeding after her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, all! Well. I posted the wrong chapter Thursday but then I couldn't change it because not surprisingly, there is no wifi ten miles past nowhere. Then it took my usual two days to relax and get my introvert shield back up again. So yeah. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or any of the characters except the ones not in the show, comics, or DC in general.**

_**Peter**_

_**March 11, 2016**_

"Come, Bandersnatch!" she calls. In a moment, the shadows start moving and a large canine rises from the floor. He looks down at Sparrow and Nightwing and starts jumping around eagerly. He rubs his muzzle against Nightwing, who pets him back.

"Nice to see you again too, boy." Bandersnatch turns to Wolf and quickly races over to him. He skids to a stop and enthusiastically bends down and wags his tail happily. Wolf gives a simple bark of acknowledgement.

"Bandy!" Sparrow calls again. The shadow beast trots back. "Okay, now watch." She holds up her hand and waves it over her face. "Shift," she commands. He barks before shrinking down. His ears become floppier and his white eyes change to brown. When he finishes transforming he looks like a black Lab. "Good boy," Sparrow coos, patting his head. The new dog runs around and comes back to Wolf, who had sat up. He sniffs the dog to make sure it's the same one as before.

"B27. Gray Moth. B28. Gosling." Gosling and Gray walk in with the motorcycle, both unscathed.

"They live!" Sparrow cheers. Salem high fives her.

"I got two new powers! They're both pretty lame but it's okay!"

"Cool. You can tell me all about them later when I show you…OUR NEW HOME!" Sparrow grins and waves her hands in a "tada" style. Allie pushes her goggles up and gives her a dead serious look.

"WHAT."

Gosling's smile widens. "Do I have to get my stuff? What should I bring?"

"What type of house is it?" Gray asks.

"Ah, ah, ah. I said home, not house," Sparrow corrects.

"We aren't living in a box are we?" Goslings smile drops as she stops jumping around.  
"Boxes don't have internet." She looks up at her aunt. "BOXES DON'T HAVE INTERNET!"

"Calm down. We're not living in a box." Gosling sighs in relief. "We're living in an apartment."

"Where?" Gray asks, her demeanor more excited that a few minutes ago.

"Where you just came from." Both girls stiffen.

"What?" Salem whispers.

"Yeah, I already paid the guy and everything! Our stuff is already over there, all we have to do is finish settling the contract and then we can get settled in!" Gray Moth moans in disbelief.

"w- adj- h- I th- why didn't you run this by us first!" she screeches.

"Think of it like this. It's a surprise door with tons of possibilities. You don't know what's gonna happen next."

"It'll be alright," I say comfortingly. She groans once more before quieting down and glaring at her aunt.

"Are we going to check it out today?" Gosling asks.

"Nah. You just came back from there, but we'll go tomorrow when I drop your school papers off."

"SCHOOL!" Gosling cheers, although I have no idea why. "How much did you get done while we were gone?"

"A lot. I even have a job interview for something I applied for over there. The landlord said that there had been some trouble at the post office with thugs stealing mail off the delivery men. So there was an open spot and I applied for it. I mean, nobody suspects the mailman right? Anyways, you two should hit the showers. You both smell terrible." Salem laughs and Allie rolls her eyes. Bandersnatch barks.

"Hey," Nightwing calls to the girls. "Can you two do that too?" he asks, pointing at the shadow dog. Gray looks away both irritated and sad.

"No. I'm only half Shadowlander," Salem replies politely before rushing off leaving him confused.

**oooooooooooo**

_**March 13, 2016**_

"Tada," Sparrow says as she opens the door to the apartment. It's Sunday. I float close to Gray, who jumps when she sees me.

"What did I tell you about doing that?" she whispers.

"Sorry," I say, backing up. I float ahead and see that the apartment is a decent size. The wooden floor stretches around the corner to the tiled kitchen. As the family walked in they notice a small closet in the hallway. It looks like only one person could fit in it at a time. There are two hooks and a pole that I guess would serve to hold coats or something. Walking a bit farther they enter a large and spacious room, the one I'm already in.

"Living room," Sparrow informs her two nieces, although that's easy to see. There are sheets of paper taped to the wall. Gosling pulls one off.

"Sofa, Auntie Tori?" she asks. Sparrow, Tori I guess, nods.

"Yeah Salem, it's where the sofa bed is going to be."

"Why-"

"It's a one bedroom apartment," Tori says, quickly cutting the girl off.

"Oh." Salem continues to look around. There are boxes that look fairly new with their furniture inside. She looks up and notices the weird gap above the closet. Tori on the other hand continues to show Gray around. She leads her to the kitchen and down the hall that connects to a bathroom and the adjacent bedroom.

"That's weird," Salem says, pointing to the wall directly across from the bedroom.

"There's an empty wall but it doesn't connect to the bathroom or the closet." Tori shrugs. "Maybe it connects to the neighbor's bathroom."

"I thought all apartments were built similarly," I mutter to myself. "This apartment doesn't seem to be a part of the neighboring one." This makes me a bit curious. I close my eyes and float through the wall. Even after being dead for fifteen years floating through things still creeps me out. When I open my eyes I can't see a thing. "Maybe it's just a wall," I mutter before going back through.

"Aunt Tooorrrraannnce," Gray whines. "Why do we have to live _here_? Why can't we just live somewhere in Happy Harbor like Kate and Charles?" Tori sighs and rocks back to lean on the doorframe.

"Because, Aliza, the people of Happy Harbor don't need us like the people of Druley. You've seen what's been going down firsthand yesterday. It's sad to see that good people have to go through things like that all the time. You can't tell me that you don't believe we can change things around here."

"Yeah we can!" Salem cheers.

"That's the spirit!" Torrance yells. She holds her hand out. "Sparrow." Salem puts her hand on top of hers.

"Gosling." They both look at Allie who sighs before giving a half smile.

"Gray Moth." I place my transparent hand over theirs. "Ghost boy." Allie says under her breath. I smile a little. We all throw our hands up and cheer. I float in front of Allie while the others go get snacks from their bags.

"You included me." She shrugs.

"Well yeah. We can't exclude you just because they can't see you." She looks up at me and I look away quickly. I was definitely not blushing.

"Alright! Now let's assemble some of this furniture," Torrance says enthusiastically, munching on a granola bar.

"I call the desk!" Salem cries, running back into the living room.

**So since you've already reviewed for this chapter number, review it on the next one, which will be Charles again.**


	5. Chapter 5

**EDIT: Longer explanation in the previous one, but I posted this too early, so go back and read the other one then come here to review it.**

**Pleasedon'tkillmebecauseIdidn'tpostlastweek. But you get it a day early than I was planning because I'm going off to Camp Grandparents.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or any of the characters except the ones everyone knows I own that I'm not listing anymore because it would take too long.**

_**Charles**_

_**March 14, 2016**_

I dash through the apartment, grabbing my backpack by the coat rack.

"Wait, Charles, you forgot your lunch!" Kate shouts from the kitchen. I run back, jumping over the cat. Kate tosses me a brown paper bag. "Did you finish your math homework?"

"I'm going to be late," I tell her. She gives me a look, but makes a shooing motion with her hands. I head out of the door, feet pounding quickly down the stairs. I glance around before using my powers to unlock my bike, stuffing the chain in my pocket. I hop on, standing up to go faster. I arrive at Happy Harbor High just as the first bell rings. With a flick of my hands, my bike is locked to the rack, leaving me to make it to class on time. I slip in through the door just as the tardy bell rings. With a sigh of relief, I plop down in my desk in the front row, dumping my backpack on the floor.

"Almost late, as usual, Monsieur Beaulac," Ms. Roberts, my French teacher, remarks drily.

"Not yet," I grin. She smiles back and turns to address the class.

"Good morning class. Now, before we get started on our usual business, I want to introduce a new classmate." She gestures to someone standing in the corner by the door. My eyes widen, I can't believe I didn't notice the girl before. She tentatively steps forward, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear. "This is Miranda, she just moved here from New York City. Say hello class."

"Hello, Miranda," we chorus. The corners of her mouth twitch into a smile quickly before she finds a sudden interest in her shoes.

"Sit wherever there's an empty desk, dear," Ms. Roberts tells her. Miranda's eyes flick around the room, settling on the nearest desk, which happens to be the one on my left. She scurries over, quietly and carefully placing her bag on the floor. I stare at her for a few moments, noting how her every moment draws as little attention as possible. "Just a reminder that for anyone who wants extra credit, you can sign up to tutor after school," Ms. Roberts announces. Miranda leans forward, taking in every word. "Now, I believe it's time to pass up our reports on snow festivals in Quebec?" I groan playfully along with the rest of the class before digging around in my bag, the spell broken.

Miranda appears a few more times during the day. She's in my math class, and we have the same lunch hour.

I slam my locker shut, spinning the knob back to zero before heading to the library to tutor, not that I need the extra credit. French is the only class I have a high A in. But I like Ms. Roberts, and I'm one of her best students, so I do it anyway. I push open the heavy wooden door, nodding at Ms. Polley, the librarian, who's going through the book returns. I walk to my usual table, only to see someone else standing there. Huh. Normally I'm the first one here. Must be someone who really needs help. Getting closer, I realize it's Miranda. I smile at her while putting my bag down.

"Are you here for tutoring?" I ask, pulling out a textbook.

"Of course not," she scoffs. "I'm here to be a tutor. I signed up after class."

"Oh. Well. I guess I'll go sit somewhere else then," I mutter, moving to the other side of the library.

"Hey, Charles!" Sadie, a girl I've been tutoring regularly skips up. "I really need your help to prep for that test Friday." I smile before pulling out a chair for her. Madi rushes in, hair unkempt and notebooks practically falling out of her backpack.

"Darn it Sadie, I really need Charles's help!" she grins good-naturedly, but there's still a tinge of frustration in her eyes.

"Ladies, ladies, no need to fight," I laugh, holding up my hands. "Madi, you go over to Miranda today, and then we'll switch tomorrow?" She sighs and nods, walking over to the other table. Pulling Sadie's textbook closer, I begin to explain imperfect tense. Every once in a while, I glance over to see how Madi is faring. Both of the girls are smiling, even laughing.

"Alright guys, time to close up shop," Ms. Polley calls from the desk.

"Thanks Charles," Sadie tells me as she packs everything up.

"No problem." I wave at her one last time as she walks through the door. Grabbing my own things, I walk out of the library, smiling at Ms. Polley when I pass the desk. Walking outside, I breathe in the crisp air, glad for my jacket. A twist of my fingers unlocks my bike, and I prepare to hop on.

"Wait!" someone yells, running after me. Now I can see that it's Miranda. "Wait!" she shouts again. I lower my foot and turn around fully. She slows into a walk a few meters from me, breathing heavily. She holds up a gloved finger for me to wait while she catches her breath.

"Well?" I ask once she's stopped puffing like a dragon.

"Oh, um." She stares at the ground, suddenly shy again. "I want to apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have been so rude."

I shrug. "It was no big deal."

"Still."

"Well, apology accepted."

"I'm Miranda by the way." She sticks out her hand, and I shake it.

"Charles. And I know." She blushes.

"Um, bye." She gives me one last shy smile before walking away. I follow her, pushing my bike along through bits of snow that the sweeper missed. Miranda eyes me. "Are you following me?"

"No. Well yes. But not really," I stutter. "This is my way home, too."

"Oh," she blushes. "So where are you from?"

"Normandy, France, actually."

"I thought so. Or well, I thought France."

"How did you know?" When I look over, I see that she's blushing.

"Oh, well, um, my mom's a linguist, and she does a lot of translating, and I help her sometimes, and so I've gotten pretty good at picking out accents."

"Cool. Does she travel a lot?"

"Yeah. But we talk on the phone and video chat and stuff a lot. And my dad works at home, so it works out pretty well."

"Why'd you move from New York?"

"Our apartment got broken into one night." My eyes widen.

"Was anyone hurt?"

"No. My mom was in D.C., and my dad and I were on a walk. But it still spooked us, and my grandma lives here, so we decided to move."

"Wow, some story."

"Yeah." She stops walking. "This is my house."

"I guess this is good-bye."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." She smiles and walks up to her house. I hop on my bike for the rest of the ride home, which isn't very far. I pull out my key on my way up the stairs, unlocking and going through the door noisily. I hate coming home to a quiet apartment, but Kate works all day, so I make my own noise. I turn the radio on full blast before grabbing a banana from the kitchen and heading to my room to start homework. I breeze through French, struggle through civics, and come to a dead stop at geometry. Sighing, I grab my phone and dial the bookshop where Kate works.

"Leather and Vellum, Kate speaking!" she answers cheerfully.

"It's me. Do you understand…" I glance down at the worksheet. "circles?"

"They're round," she replies in a hopeful tone.

"I can see that. Anything else?"

"No. You can call Kaldur…I mean, Jaime. Try Jaime. Or maybe Wally. Or Robin or Nightwing." She punctuates the end of her sentence with a sigh.

"Kate…"

"I gotta go, there's a customer. All of Jaime's and Wally's numbers are written in the front of the phone book, and the other two should be at…work. Bye." Without waiting for a reply, she hangs up. Sighing, I gather up my things, deciding to go to the cave for help. Besides, I really want to talk to Moth and Gosling some more.

**Well, I want lots of lovely reviews when I get back, so please just fill in that little box down there.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiiiiiiiiii….*nervous laughter*….have I mentioned how awful I am about updating during the summer? And the site was being stupid last Friday and then I was gone all Saturday and then I've been having tons of homework ever since then, which is why it's seven days ****and like a month**** late. Well now you know. But it's back to school, so back to a regular update. Ish. More on that at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or any of the characters unless they're previously stated as mine.**

_**Allie **_

_**March 14, 2016**_

"Time to get up," I yawn tiredly. Salem grunts and rolls off the mattress and onto the hard wooden floor. I stand up and trudge to the bathroom. As I open the door I look into Auntie's room. The bed is made and she's nowhere in sight.

"Must've left," I mutter under my breath. I push the door open more and close it behind me. After finishing my morning hygiene I go back into Auntie's room and open the bottom drawer. I pull out my school clothes, a peach polo shirt with khaki pants. Salem comes in behind me. Her hair is a mess and her breath smells terrible. She's pretty dazed from staying up late last night but I know she'll snap out of it once she finishes in the bathroom. She pushes me away and opens the second drawer. She pulls out an identical shirt but a khaki skirt. She walks back to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I quickly change into my clothes and head for the kitchen. I see two plates of what looks like green eggs sitting on the stove. A sticky note hangs off the rim of one.

"Eat a good breakfast. ;)," I read out loud. I retrieve a fork from a drawer and prod the substance.

"This is considered breakfast?" A small part if it deflates. "Cereal it is, then." I declare. I turn and nearly scream. Peter stands there. He mumbles something. I give him a look and he clears his throat. "Good morning, Aliza." I've become more accepting of Peter being around. The only thing I don't like about him being around is the fact that he disappears and reappears randomly. I walk through him and open the pantry. I look around before finding cinnamon toasties. I grab the box and walk back to the table. Salem comes in and grabs her laptop from the counter, placing it on the table. She glances at the stove.

"Aww Auntie made us breakfast." She grabs the plate and a fork and spoon. She hands me the spoon and stabs the fork into the green stuff.

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you. Oh and could you get me some milk?"

"Sure," she says, opening the fridge and getting a carton of milk and orange juice. "And why not? She made it especially for us." I shrug as she hits the door with her hip, closing it.

"Hey what's this?" She hands me the milk and sets down the orange juice before reaching and taking what looks like a photograph from the refrigerator. She laughs and then shows me the photo. It's a picture of Auntie dressed in a blue mail carrier uniform with a matching hat covering her eyes and a brown bag slung across her shoulder. I grin.

"At least we know we won't be the only ones looking ridiculous." I pour the milk and take a bite at the same time as Salem. I look at her. She swallows.

"It tastes a bit like strawberry jelly but overall it's good." I make a face as she continues to eat it. I decide that it's be better to just focus on my food.

Once we finish we put the dishes in the sink and head to the door. I open the hall closet and grab both of our shoes. Salem takes her jacket off the rack and shrugs it on, checking to make sure that the sleeves cover all of her tattoos.

"You got your key?" I ask, lacing my shoes up. She pulls up her necklace and along with her zei stone is the key.

"I also have lunch money and my schedule." I stand up.

"Ditto." I throw on my backpack that's waiting by the door. "Let's go."

**oooooooo**

I look around the classroom. My first period class is world geography and from what I had heard from other students the teacher is always late.

"Hey new kid." I look up to see a brunette girl beckoning me to her desk. I push my fake glasses I use for a disguise further up my nose before getting up and moving over to her. She looks like she'd be one of the popular girls based on how she held herself, her cosmetics, and the level of confidence she gave off. But I had confidence too.

"What do you want?" Her friend, a blonde with brown lowlights, looks at me like I just swore. The brunette brushes it off.

"Cute glasses. Where'd you get 'em?"

"Visions."

"I'm Tasha Stadford. And that's Mary Jane Jones."

"Aliza Caine."

"So you're the new girl, huh?" I nod, and she smiles.

"So what lunch do you have?"

"B."

"Chill. You're having lunch with us." She turns back around in her desk. I scrunch my nose up at how she thinks just because she's cool I want to sit with her.

"I'm eating with my sister."

"She can come with." I'm about to make up an excuse for why we can't but decide not to because Auntie said we should make friends.

"Fine." I go and sit back down in my desk and wait until the teacher finally walks in. The rest of the day flows pretty smoothly. Since Salem isn't very good at science we have the same biology class.

"Wow somebody already asked us to sit with them! That's so cool!" I smile at Salem's enthusiasm before quickly copying the notes down from off the board. When lunchtime comes I don't even have to look for the girls, they find me.

"Aliza!" Tasha waves at me as I'm about to get in line. I hesitate a bit before waving back. She hurries up to me.

"C'mon, we saved you a spot." She grabs my arm and pulls me all the way to where the line to get food starts. I glance behind me. People give me some irritated and angry scowls. I turn back to Tasha to see her hugging another girl.

"Oh my gosh hey!" they squeal at each other. I tap Tasha's shoulder.

"Dude we just cut all these people."

"Excuse me honey but I'm way too pretty to be a dude," she laughs. "And secondly we do this all the time. No one complains."

"I dunno," I mutter, really not liking this. I sigh and just go with it, getting and paying for my food. We sit down at the lunch table and I start eating. A disgusting taste fills my mouth and the cafeteria food isn't helping drive it away. I reach in my pocket and take out a few peppermints, unwrapping them and popping them into my mouth.

"You okay?" A hand iss placed on my shoulder and I look up to see Salem. I smile and nod slightly. The others are quiet.

"Oh, well if you're sure you're okay, I'll go get my lunch," Salem smiles. She walks back for the line.

"It's pizza day!" I call after her she gave a thumbs up to show her approval. As soon as she's out of earshot Mary Jane leans forward.

"Oh my gosh is that your sister?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You two don't even look alike," a Hispanic girl from my algebra class, Maggie I think, comments.

"Yeah, and?"

"Is she like adopted?" I pause and squint at the girls. "I'll take your silence as a yes."

"She's my sister."

"But not your biological sister, right?" an African American guy named Ricky states.

"No..." I sigh.

"She is so weird though." I turn to another guy, James. He constantly brushes his bangs out of his face. "She started getting all defensive just because I said art wasn't a real class. It was so stupid." He probably had had that coming. Salem believes that all art is beautiful if someone put effort and heart into it and anyone who said it wasn't important got an earful.

"Yeah," MJ chimes in, "and in PE we were playing volleyball, and she couldn't hit the ball over the net and stuff. It was sad to watch." They all laugh.

"Shut up." I growl, glaring at each of them.

"What's your problem?" Tasha asks. "We're just having fun."

"At my sister's expense?"

"Lighten up." They then go back to talking. I dig my nails into my knees and grimace as they make fun of my sister. They start quieting down when Salem approaches the table. She notices that I haven't eaten anything.  
"What's wrong?"

"Not hungry," I reply. I feel a quick flash of pain, like a two second headache and the feeling that something is plugging into my head.

"_Do you want to go sit somewhere else?_" Salem asks over a telepathic link. I wince slightly.

"_Yeah._"  
"_You see the group sitting at the fourth circle table?_" I look and spot a table with two extra seats. "_From the info I've gathered I think they'd make way better friends and of company than these jerks._"  
"_Wait did you-_"  
"_Yeah, I heard everything with Conner's hearing._"  
"_I'm sorry I-_"  
"_It's cool not everybody is going to like me, but thanks for trying to say something for me._" She pats my hand and I smile.  
"_Let's go._" I stand up and we turn to go.

"Hey where are you going?" Tasha asks.

"To find better people to be around," Salem says with a wave. We laugh with each other at Tasha's expression. It seems like we've take care of two types of bullies today. Salem stops in front of the table.

"Hello, Salem," a boy with black hair and brown eyes says dramatically.

"Jesse," Salem replies, equally dramatic.

"You two know each other?" a blonde girl with freckles asks. She's wearing one of those hipster beanies and glasses. Next to her is a blond boy who looks like a male version of her.

"Yep," Jesse smiles. "We got into an argument over whether Senri's voice sounded better in the English or Japanese dubbed."

"Can we sit here?" I ask as the two get caught up in the argument again.

"Sure," the girl says, gesturing at the chairs. I smile my thanks as I sit down.

"I'm Aliza. But my friends call me Allie."

"Well, maybe we'll get the chance to call you that," the blonde boy says. "I'm Collin and this is Skylar. And no we aren't twins. I'm an entire year older." I laugh.

"We'll it's nice to meet you. That's my sister Salem."

"Are those tattoos real?" Skylar asks, peering at some peeking over Salem's jacket collar.

"Yep," Salem proclaims.

"Cool. So you two are new huh?" I nod. "We'll it's good you got away from Tasha and her gang before they sank their claws into you."

"Yeah that group wasn't really...for us."

"We understand, they tend to tear at people who they feel superior to." There's an awkward silence after Collin's abrupt statement.

"You should finish eating before the bell rings," Jesse says, breaking the silence. I pick up my pizza and take a bite. The rest of the lunch period is filled with light chatter about bands we like and shows we watch. I also find out that at least one of them is in almost all of my classes. The next few days go by fast and with a backpack full of homework and study assignments when we get home, Salem and I always have something to do. Somehow we balance all of the work with patrols with Tori and training with the team.

"You know, the cameras here have a lot of blind spots," Salem muses one day during lunch, looking up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, the school had a lot of budget cuts so they only got to install a few cameras," Jesse explains.

"Uh-huh...," Salem mutters. I can tell by the look on her face that she's planning something.

"Did any of you understand what Mr. Beck was saying in chem?" Skylar asks. I shrug off Salem's thing and continue with our conversation. On Friday Tori meets us on our way home.

"Guess who's going to go see where I used to live?" she asks with a grin.

** Okay, so here's the down low on updating. We have roughly three chapters in stock, but after that it's touch and go. Because everything you hear about your junior year of high school and homework is true. My standard time spent on homework is now two and a half hours. Add in, you know, LIFE, and suddenly my morning writing time has quickly turned into sleep or more homework. So I'll try to keep up, but please be patient. Also, reviews make me write because I feel guilty when I'm not updating. (hint, hint)**


	7. Chapter 7

**I am going to bed. But because I wuv you all very much, here's the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: you know who does and doesn't belong to me by now.**

_**Salem**_

_**March 18, 2016**_

"You mean with Bruce and Alfred? And the huge house? And the secret passageways?" I squeal, glomping onto Auntie.

"Yeah," she laughs. "Not get off me so we can stop home first. I don't know about you two but I'm not going there in my uniform." She grimaces and looks down at the blue (and dorky) outfit she's wearing.

A short bit later, I'm comfortably clothed in a red "keep calm and carry on" shirt, Allie in a black t-shirt with a picture of an x-ray of a dog with shredded paper that said homework in its stomach, and Auntie changed into a black band shirt with white fangs on it and "My Chemical Romance" in between them. We all chose jeans, although each pair is as different as ourselves. Mine have patches on the knees over the pre-torn parts that were starting to peel off, Allie's are black with faded spots at the knees, and Auntie's are plain blue jeans.

"Ready?" Auntie asks. I nod along with Allie, but stop when I feel like I'm missing something. I realize I don't have my bag.

"Wait!" I run into the bedroom and retrieve my purse before running back to the front door.

"Ready!" I exclaim.

"We're going to take the zeta," Auntie informs us as we walk out of the apartment.

"That's the one in the bad…well, worse, part of town," Allie hisses as Auntie locks the door.

"I know, that's what makes it such a perfect hiding place!" Auntie beams, like she had installed the system herself.

"Well, it's better than a two hour bus ride with a bunch of potentially sick or unstable people," I say comfortingly while patting Allie's back. She grumbles, but starts walking. As we walk down the streets to the zeta we have light conversations about what's going on at school and at work. Apparently there's a guy named Quinn who goes out of his way to give Auntie a hard time. I tell her that it's kind of like the group of kids from school. Apparently they don't like the fact that I sorta had Allie blow them off, but I figure they'll get over it. There are a few time that while we're walking Auntie had to pull out her can of mace to threaten some creeps. I offer my Swiss army knife, but she just looks at me and confiscates the item before then interrogating me of where, when, and from whom did I get it from. Luckily I'm able to dance around her questions long enough until we got to the tube.

"Hey, isn't that the tube?" I ask, pointing to a dumpster in an alley. Auntie's gold eyes stop burrowing into me and turn in the direction I'm pointing. She relaxes a bit.

"Why, yes it is. But, just because we're here doesn't mean you're off the hook." I roll my eyes.

"Who chose the dumpster as a disguise?" Allie moans.

"I'm with her this time," I say, my voice funny because I'm pinching my nose. It smells like old baby diapers with spoiled grapes and sour milk that sat in the hot sun for a month. I gag.

"The faster you get in, the faster the smell disappears!" Auntie smiles. I look at Allie and push her forward. She glares back at me before looking back at the dumpster. Allie scrambles up and perches on the edge of the dumpster for a second before crawling down.

"This had better be fake rat poop!" she yells. There's the beeping of buttons, then a faint robotic voice announcing her disappearance.

"You're next," Auntie says. I gulp and climb to the edge. As I stand at the edge Auntie and I notice a woman walking by. When she sees us she slows down. I look at Auntie who looks back at me. I think quickly before looking back in the dumpster and yelling.

"Hey! I think there's a dead cat in here!" I crouch down further and lean forward. Auntie pretends to look over the side.

"Ooh, that'd look great with our collection!" Auntie cheers. The lady gives us a disgusted look before rushing away. Auntie and I snicker. I dive in quickly, so that no one else will see us.

As I follow, I avoid the rat poop Allie mentioned, and yellow gunk caked on the walls. I close my eyes against the blue flash and step out of an abandoned telephone booth in Gotham. Allie is waiting for us. I turn.

"Wow, who would throw this away?" I exclaim, looking at the antique closely. "It would make a really cool storage unit. Or you could put it up for display at your house! Oh! Or you could fix it and keep it in your room to call people with!"

"That would work if one, we actually had a bedroom, not a fold-out couchbed, and two, if it wasn't being used as the main transportation system for Batman," Allie states.

"True," I say sadly, my dreams crushed. I took out my camera from my bag and took a picture.

"Why do you have your camera?" Allie asks.

"When do I not have my camera?" I reply, taking a few more pictures. I pat the machine one more time as Auntie comes through. She shakes something off the bottom of her shoe.

"Yeah, we're going to get that dumpster cleaned up. I think I saw the rat that made the poop." We all shudder as one.

"What now?" Allie asks.

"Welp, now we can catch a cab." I grin thinking of scenes where people hailed there cabs that took them to their exciting new destination. We step out onto the street, and I let out a piercing whistle. Auntie and Allie jump.

"What was that for?" Allie asks, rubbing her ears.

"To hail a taxi! I've always wanted to do that," I beam.

"Despite the damage to the eardrums of every life form within a mile radius, it did work." Auntie points to the yellow taxi cab pulling up to the curb. We all squeeze in the back. I was the first one in so i sat behind the driver. I put my camera away and look out the window.

"Where to?" the driver asks in a typical New York accent.

"1007 Mountain Drive, please," Auntie smiles. The cabby nods and pulls away. We sit in silence for the ride. I watch as the streets slowly change from cluttered and scary to clipped lawns and soccer balls to ginormous mansions behind fancy gates. It was kind of weird. Even the trees had fences as if they were trying to keep things out so that it could live in the illusion that it was completely safe.

Gradually, the mansions spread out, until we're just driving through a scattered forest of pine trees. Animals scatter and in the sky a flock of birds fly off in search of food. At the end of the long and winding road is the biggest mansion of all. I smile as the driver slows down.

"Here we are. Ya sure ya can get in?" the cabby asks, eyeing the huge gate.

"Yeah. Here's the money." Auntie glances at the meter before handing him a wad of cash from her pocket. We all stumble out, the cab driving away with a classic squeal of tires. We walk up to the gate, which has lots of cool scrolls and jagged parts.

"So how are we getting in?" Allie asks.

"Ooohhh! We could toss each over the fence! Or I have a trowel in my bag, we could tunnel under the gate!" I suggest.

"Or we could try the comm over by the keypad," Auntie laughs. I shrug and take my camera out again. Auntie walks over to the comm and she presses the red call button.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne is out right now, may I take a message?" an elderly sounding British man asks.

"Alfred, it's me! Tori?"

"Apologies, Miss Torrance. You were too close to the video screen for me to recognize you. I'll buzz you in." A moment later the gates open seamlessly, much to my surprise. They looked like the squealy kind you'd have to oil a lot. We start the long hike up to the mansion.

"Why don't we teleport?" I ask.

"Bruce had Zatara place a spell on the estate. No teleportation on or off unless it's through the zeta," Auntie explains.

"And why couldn't we zeta in?"

"Wouldn't want to scare the old man right? Him and his frail heart."

"You forgot the code didn't you?" Allie gives her a look that said 'I'm not buying it.'

"Psh. Nooo." Auntie looks away and starts to walk faster.

"Hey! I can still levitate us!" I skim my fingers over a red "X" on the inside of my elbow, using some of the telekinesis I borrowed from Megan earlier this week. I carefully pick them up. It feels like trying to balance a ball on the back of your hand. I'm still a bit unsteady, but I know I'll be able to hold them until we got to the top. We start zooming up the hill.

"Now this is my kind of traveling! Whoo!" Allie shouts over the wind. We touch down at the front door, where a grandfather-aged man in a black suit is waiting.

"Alfred!" Auntie squeals, pulling him into her arms.

"It's nice to see you as well, Miss Torrance," the butler smiles as he returns the hug. When he lets her go though he pulls a roll of newspaper out of nowhere and hits Auntie over the head with it.

"What was that for?" she asks, blocking her head from another blow.

"Frail heart, indeed. Now, who are these two lovely young ladies?" Auntie scoffs as she stands.

"These are my nieces, Allison and Salem. And they are anything but lovely young ladies." Auntie passes her hand over our heads as she introduces us.

"Nice to meet you," we say simultaneously ignoring Auntie's comment.

"The pleasure is mine. Would you like to come inside?" He turns gracefully and heads indoors.

"Dude, this is so cool! Did you hear his accent?" I whisper to Allie jumping a little. She smiles in agreement. I took a few pictures before we went in. We step inside the cavernous foyer.

"Where's Bruce?" Auntie asks, tugging a strand of hair.

"Ah. Miss Salem, Miss Allison, may I escort you to the kitchen so I can speak to your aunt privately? I just finished baking some cookies." I nod eagerly. As we follow the butler, I take in the rest of the house. Tasteful décor with a hint of gothic style seems to be the theme, although it becomes homier the farther back we go. Servant quarters maybe? "Here we are," Alfred says as he pushes open a heavy wooden door.

"Thank you Alfred," I smile as I walk in. It's nice and warm, but not overly so. Gleaming copper pots and utensils hang from racks, and everything is spic and span. I immediately dart over to the tray of cookies cooling on the counter in the center of the kitchen.

"Man, I wanted to hear what Alfred was going to say," Allie sighs as she joins me.

"Are you kidding me?" I mumble through cookie. "Alfred's cookies are the stuff of legend. I'd choose these any day. Have one." Allie takes a small bite, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Wow, I always thought Auntie was exaggerating when she talked about these. But now I think she didn't do them justice!" We eat until our stomachs are aching in protest. "Now what?" Allie asks as she rubs her stomach. I drop the rest of the cookies into my purse.

"Exploring! You heard all of Auntie's stories about secret passageways and the Batcave!" She smiles.

"You're right, come on!" Allie leads the way out of the kitchen, taking us back to the foyer. "Where should we go first?"

"Let's go up," I suggest, pointing to the grand staircase that curves down from the second story. We quietly run up the stairs, stopping at the top to search for Auntie or Alfred. "All clear," I whisper. We go left, walking down the hallway until we come across two carved wooden doors. I tug on the huge iron handle, opening the door with only a slight groan from the hinges. Feeling around, I flip the light switch. Instead of the dazzling chandeliers I was expecting, a series of lamps on small tables light up. Portraits line the walls. We walk over to them.

"Daniel Wayne, born May 6, 1879, died June 20, 1938, and his wife, Elena, born December 21, 1880, died 1930," Allie reads from the plaque underneath the nearest portrait.

"I think these are family portraits!" I exclaim, pulling a notebook and pencil so I can start a family tree. Allie walks down the room, looking intently at the portraits.

"Look," I call. In front of me is a picture of a teenage girl in an elegant red dress standing behind a chair. She looks completely uncomfortable with a forced smile. Her nails are digging into the chair and her eyes are just a little too wide. Allie and I crack up at the picture of our aunt at a younger age dressed up with a face covered in makeup. As we calm down I take a picture of the portrait.

"This is definitely going to be my new wallpaper," I giggle.

"Hey, I found Bruce!" she shouts. I dash over to join her in front of the handsome man's portrait. "This must be Nightwing," she says, pointing to the young boy in the portrait next to Bruce.

"Who's this then?" I ask, pointing to a teenager next to Nightwing's portrait. His face is sullen, like he wasn't pleased about being put in a suit, but he's still a quite attractive boy.

"Jason Todd Wayne, born August 16, 1998, died November 3, 2015," Allie reads quietly.

"He was only seventeen," I whisper.

"Come on, let's find some place that's…happier." Allie grabs my hand and drags me out of the room. As she opens the door she jumps a bit before muttering something. We keep exploring, although we mostly find just bedrooms or sitting rooms. We even see Auntie's room. She has lots of posters on her walls and strangely enough the furniture is arranged in her room the same as it is in the apartment. I guess habits are hard to get rid of.

"Ugh, where are the secret passages? The revolving bookcases?" I groan, knocking on the walls.

"Let's try this one," Allie suggests, dramatically throwing open a set of French doors. She bows me through them, and I step outside onto a terrace. There's only a short drop from the railing to the ground because the hill has gradually increased.

_"Maybe underneath us is the Batcave!" _I peer over the rail to see if I can spot an entrance, but there's only a small graveyard.

"Allie, come see!" I call. She rushes over from where she was enjoying the view of the ocean. "Let's go down." I jump over the side, landing firmly on my feet. Allie, on the other hand, stumbles and falls on her butt. She quickly stands up hissing something and dusting off her rump.

"You saw none of that," she growls, pointing at me.

"Come on," I beckon.

"I don't know," she says uneasily, biting her lip.

"Don't worry, everyone's going to stay good and dead." Grudgingly, she joins me in front of the graves.

"Here are Bruce's parents," I whisper. I look over my shoulder when Allie doesn't respond. She's standing in front of another grave, eyes glazed over. I peer at the headstone. Jason Todd, the boy from before. "What's wrong?" I ask, gently shaking her shoulder.

Her eyes snap towards me. She gasps, "He's not dead."

"What do you mean? Of course he is, he's been dead for months."

"Well if he is, he's buried somewhere else. There's no body in this grave." I look down at the gravesite, channeling Allie's power. A taste worse than the smell of Druley's zeta fills my mouth. I see dark green smoke puffs over Bruce's parent's graves, but there's nothing over Jason's grave. I look back at Allie and the air next to her distorts like it would around a fire. I try to look closer, but the taste is getting unbearable and I'm pretty sure that throwing up on the graves would not get us any closer to seeing the Batcave. I take a cookie from my bag and relieve my taste buds.

"Let's head back, this is getting creepy," Allie shudders looking at the sky. I shrug, and we make our way back to the terrace.

"How do we get back up?" Allie asks as we look up at the ledge.

"Uh. Well, I could hoist you up there and have you pull me up." She sighs in agreement. I kneel down and lock my fingers. She backs up before running forward and jumping on my hands. I launch her up and she grabs the side of the rail and swings her legs back down to the other side of it. She turns around and climbs back over, hooking her feet in between the gaps of the bars. She holds her arms out to me. I jump catching her hands. She strains to pull me up, her hands starting to get really slippery the tighter she tries to grip mine, until finally I lose my grip all together. I hit the ground and am stunned for a second before the pain starts the flow back into my body. I sit up with a groan and rub the back of my head. I tap into Allie's teleportation and teleport up there. She facepalms.

"Why didn't we think of that in the first place."

"I don't know, but someone should have," I mutter as I stand up. As we walk back into the upstairs hall we see Auntie and Alfred waiting for us downstairs. We jump down the last four steps and smile at them.

"Did you enjoy the cookies?" Auntie asks.

"Yeah, they were delicious. Thanks Alfred!" Allie replies.

"Well, it's time to go, kiddos. Do you think we could use the zeta?"

"Of course, Miss Torrance. You know the way. Good-bye." Alfred sketches a quick bow before heading in the direction of the kitchen.

"Wait!" Everyone stops and stares at me. "We didn't get to see the Batcave."

"Dude, it's late," Auntie whines.

"But-" I start.

"Miss Salem," Alfred starts, "If you really would like to see the Batcave then you may come back at any time."

"Seriously?"

"Very seriously."

"AWESOME!" I squeal as I happily exit the manor and wave goodbye.

**FYI, I had four tests today, one of which was a redo for pre-calculus (I made a 64 the first time) and have been running on six hours of sleep for the past three nights. Review or I will hunt you down and kill you.**


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